“For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” Galatians 2:19.

(Note “Galatians 2:19” is a reference to the Bible, which is a collection of books. It means that the quotation above referred to as “Galatians 2:19” is taken from the book of Galatians in the Bible, the 2^nd chapter, and the 19^th verse, where a chapter consists of numbered sections called verses.)

In this post we will unpack the meaning of the Bible verse quoted above, Galatians 2:19, which relates to our salvation.

God and the Law

The law to which the Bible refers is “the law of God.” Joshua 24:26. So, we see that God has a law. I have written a previous post on who God is and what He is like. Suffice it to say at this point that God is eternal and self-existent, “the Creator” (Isaiah 40:28) of all that there is in the universe, and His character may be described by saying that “God is love.” 1 John 4:8.

When we say that God is eternal we are saying “even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Psalm 90:2. In saying that God is self-existent we mean that God is “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.” Hebrews 7:3. In other words, God’s life is derived from no one else.

God says, “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isaiah 40:26. He is “God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit [mind] to them that walk therein.” Isaiah 42:5.

“The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Psalm 103:19. “God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.” Psalm 47:8. “Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.” Job 34:12. “Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.” Psalm 97:2. “Thou satest [sat] in the throne judging right.” Psalm 9:4.

“Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth” (Psalm 119:142) about God who is love. God says, “He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8) for “love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. God’s law then is a law of love. “All thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172.

So, God says to all humanity, “Forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments.” Proverbs 3:1. “Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.” Proverbs 7:2. “For the wages of sin [wrongdoing] is death.” Romans 6:23. “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” Psalm 5:4.

God says, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Ezekiel 33:11. “Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments…according to all the law which I commanded.” 2 Kings 17:13.

“Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me…For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:32-36.

God desires that all humanity be such that “They…entered…into an oath, to walk in God’s law…and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord.” Nehemiah 10:29.

Which Law?

God gave His law as “the ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28) to the nation of Israel through their leader named Moses. Why Israel? Because they were the descendants of Abraham, Israel, and Jacob, godly men, to whom God promised that He would bless the world by making Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ancestors of Christ when He was born into the world. Christ is God, but approximately 2,000 years He took upon Himself human flesh when He was born into our world as a baby boy named Jesus. See my previous post on how Jesus Christ blessed the world, how He blessed all humanity. Thus, God made “the Israelites” (Exodus 9:7), known as the Jews, a special people on all the earth.

“What advantage then hath the Jew? …Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles [utterances] of God.” Romans 3:1, 2. For “Moses wrote all the words of the LORD.” Exodus 24:4. “Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto…Israel.” Deuteronomy 31:9.

These are the words of the ten commandments. “And God spake all these words, saying” (Exodus 20:1),

1. “I am the
   LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the
   house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
   Exodus 20:2, 3.

2. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6.

3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7. 

4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.

5. “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12.

6. “Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13.

7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14.

8. “Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15.

9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16.

10. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy
    neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
    ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” Exodus 20:17.

The above then is God’s law for humanity, ten brief, comprehensive and authoritative commandments.

Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch and the Jews reckoned that there were 613 commandments contained in the Pentateuch. Thus, to the Jewish mind there are 613 commandments in what they call “the law of Moses.” Joshua 8:31. In reality, the entire Bible is a revelation of God’s will and the whole Bible amplifies the ten commandments.

The Purpose of the Law

God says, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law.” James 2:12. Thus, God’s law of love is the standard of character by which all of God’s created intelligences are judged by God.

God says of all humanity, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Job 14:4. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Thus, the condition of the human race is that they “cannot cease from sin” (2 Peter 2:14), cannot cease from evil and wrongdoing. Therefore, all mankind is under the condemnation of God’s law of love and they face the penalty of eternal death. Why can’t people cease from sinning? See my previous post about the entrance of sin into the world.

But thanks be to God that the human race is not to be left in their sinful condition if they so choose! For God says, “The LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart…to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deuteronomy 30:6) forever. In other words, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Hebrews 8:10.

“I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13), make you such that you can stand “holy and without blame before him [God] in love.” Ephesians 1:4. So, God has promised to give all humanity a change of heart from selfishness and evil to love, so that they have supreme love for God and love for their fellow human beings.

All these words God spoke to the nation of Israel, the Jews, but God declares the Jews to be “a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit [mind] was not stedfast [steadfast] with God.” Psalm 78:8. For the Jews, instead of submitting their will to God’s will for their lives, turned away from God and went on their “evil ways.” Ezekiel 33:11.

They had no interest in being “transformed by the renewing of…[their] mind” (Romans 12:2) through “the wondrous works of God” (Job 37:14), into individuals with God’s character of love. Therefore, they misinterpreted God’s words to them and put all their time and energies into outwardly, in their own strength, keeping the 613 commandments in the law of Moses. At the same time, their relationship with God was such that they “were…alienated and enemies [of God] in …[their] mind by wicked works.” Colossians 1:21.

Thus, God says, “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? [Why?] Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” Romans 9:31, 32. That is, God calls Israel’s self-reliance in the keeping of God’s law of love, “the works of the law.” Romans 9:32. Israel’s approach to keeping God’s law of love is illustrative of the approach of the entire human race who all seek to keep God’s law “by the works of the law.” Romans 9:32.

Instead, God says that Israel, and all humanity, should seek righteousness “by faith.” Romans 9:32. What does this mean? God designs that all mankind are to have “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21. Repentance is deep remorse for one’s own sins and faith in Christ is to believe in the work of Christ to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), to save the entire human race.

Repentance is the drawing of God whereby the person’s eyes are opened to their sins as they are in God’s sight, and they are led by the Holy Spirit to loathe their wickedness such that they confess their sins to God and surrender their will to God by choosing to serve God. Now everyone receives the gift of faith from God but without repentance people have a superficial faith and not saving (correct) faith that takes proper hold of God’s truth by the working of the Holy Spirit. When they repent they are able to fully believe God’s promises to save them from eternal death. And when they do believe then it is that God supplies the fact, in that, the person is forgiven of their sins by God and they are cleansed from sin when “the love of God is shed abroad [poured] in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit] which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5.

Only in this way can humanity cease from sinning and, instead, have a character of love identical to God’s character of love. Such individuals then “have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.” Romans 9:30. They keep God’s law of love and this is entirely because of “the work of God.” John 6:29.

What then was God’s purpose in giving humanity the law which is summarised in the ten commandments? “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified [declared righteous by God] by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:24, 25. The law was an instructor for all humanity in that it pointed out God’s standard of righteousness, His standard of holiness. But after we receive the gift of God’s love in our hearts we no longer need an instructor for then we know in our hearts and minds what is right.

Unpacking Galatians 2:19

Our Bible verse of focus says, “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” Galatians 2:19. Here the word “law” is used in two senses. That is, Galatians 2:19 should be interpreted as follows: “For I through [God’s]…law [of love] am dead to the [works of the] law, that I might live unto God.” Galatians 2:19.

In other words, Galatians 2:19 means that because the love of God has been poured into my heart by God such that I keep God’s law, I, through God’s love at work in me, am dead to the works of the law, I am no longer attempting to keep God’s law through self-reliance.

Therefore, I live, that is, my conduct, is according to God’s will for my life that I may stand “faultless” (Jude 1:24) before God. In other words, as God says, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons [and daughters] of God, without rebuke.” Philippians 2:15. Such will be saved to eternal life. This then is the meaning of Galatians 2:19.

How This Blog Teaches Bible Study

My blog posts take one or more Bible verses and unpack what is often the hidden meaning in them, to help you to gain in your understanding of the Bible, and to receive insights into how to study it. For God says, “Study [the Bible] to shew [show] thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [interpreting] the word of truth [the Bible].” 2 Timothy 2:15. There are new blog posts every two weeks on a Monday at 12:01 a.m. in timezone UTC-5 (GMT-5).

Further Reading

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